“As if. I just like Saint Valentine.
Not my fault you two are a couple of freaks and came over here first.”

“We are not!” Michael protested,
taking a step away from Kynan. He was getting red in the face, and with his
bright orange hair, it made him almost glow when he got mad.

“Come on, Mike, she’s just trying to
get under your skin. Ignore her. She’s dumb,” Kynan said, making an attempt to
calm him down.

Brianna frowned at Kynan. “Are you
guys gonna hog the shrine all day?”

“Maybe,” Michael snapped.

“Just scoot over, Mike,” Kynan told
him. “She can look.”

The three stood quietly for a moment,
until Michael elbowed Kynan in the ribs and pulled his hand out of his school bag
revealing a handful of snappers. “You wanna?”

“I thought you didn’t want to get in
trouble,” Kynan whispered.

“You were right. Nobody will know it’s
us – besides, we can blame it on Brianna,” Michael coaxed with a wicked grin.
Kynan regarded the noisemakers for a moment. This was a church, after all. But
on the other hand, snappers at Saint Valentine’s shrine seemed like the perfect
revenge for his parents’ divorce.

Another surge of indignation threw his
stomach into an uproar. He reached out and grasped several of the small white
poppers, then smiled surreptitiously, lifting one eyebrow at his friend.

They both took a step behind Brianna
and held up their contraband in full readiness to flick them with a finger
right behind her. When out of the corner of his eye, Kynan caught sight of a
priest moving towards them in full robes. He grabbed Michael’s elbow and nodded
in the direction of the approaching father. Both boys instantly slipped their
hands into their pockets and eyed him. The priest seemed to be coming straight
for them, and he seemed to be on a mission.